ReZero - The journey of Demon-lord candidate
by SpookySaint
Summary: Emilia has became more distant due to her participation in Royal Selection. Still optimist Subaru is getting ready to travel to Karagi with Ram, without knowing what fate has in store for him on that day. The normal journey would lead him to a greater adventure, this time with cold-hearted Ram.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own ReZero or it's settings, characters, story, etc.**

 **I am a beginner in fanfiction, so it's likely that I may not be able to give you the best fanfic in an instant but if you bear with me, I would try arduously to give you more than you bargain for. For this is only the beginning.**

 **The story starts after the last episode. Subaru is going to get some more powers, better than Return-by-Death. There will be probably lemons too…**

 **This will be a Ram X Subaru fanfiction.**

 **CHAPTER 1 – The Journey to Karagi**

"I am happy," Emilia began. "I am so happy. I never imagined I'd see the day someone told me they loved me…What should I do? You have told me so much of your feelings, but I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to stress over it," Subaru said, smiling, with his palm placed on Emilia's soft cheeks. "I am not demanding an answer right away…"

He thought he could keep up with that promise, but it had been two months already after that day; the day he defeated the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. But instead of getting closer to Emilia, Subaru had got more distant from her instead. Although they lived in the same mansion, Emilia had to go out more often than not, as her ally Subaru had gifted her with two major accomplishments: the former one above, and defeating the White Whale. Subaru was deemed a hero for a time. Still, he managed to pass day by day, patiently waiting for those few moments when he could talk to Emilia for a few moments, and make her laugh a few times. Still, in his heart, he knew this was going nowhere. His shenanigans could only get him a laugh or two from her. Despite this, he still passed his days…

"But I can still walk!" Rem yelled, to which Subaru replied by patting her head. "No, you need to rest, Rem-rin. However desperately my heart yells to journey with you, I have to blind it with shadows of my brain because you are ill."

Rem blushed when he said ' _my Rem',_ and succumbed to his concern.

"Besides, who would want to go with Ram? I think she will probably throw me off the carriage down some cliff and then cry, " _Subaru was kidnapped!" or something._ "

"Shit! Barusu, how come you knew of my plans?!" A familiar voice came from behind.

Subaru froze, and slowly turned in fear to see a cute maid with medium length pink hair and a cold demonic expression.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Rem! Saveeee meeee…" Subaru cried as Ram pulled him away from there with a strong grasp on his left ear.

Patrasche was running at her full strength as Subaru sat gloomily with Ram, who was looking at a list of things they had to purchase at Karagi. Subaru would look at her every now and then, but tried to avoid direct contact with her eyes. It's not like he hated her. Ram was an egotistical girl, who saw herself second only to Roswaal. But still, Subaru felt just like the former Rem, Ram's true nature must be frozen deep inside her, bound by some dark past. Although Ram had way more strength than him, she still was weak, compared to the average magic users around. He knew how she lost her horn, and the consequences she had to deal with after that. Appearance-wise, she was a charming one too, as she had a cute face which looked cool when she showed her cold, yet demure expression. Her pink eyes which reflected bitter sweetness when looked into them, then her breasts…Well, they weren't as big as Ram's or Emilia's, but their shape and size still formed a great figure in any sort of clothes.

"Barusu, could you please stop looking at me in such a perverted way?" She said, still looking at the paper, without making eye contact with him.

Subaru thought, _'Fuck! How did she notice?!'_

"I am more mature than Rem and Emilia-sama. You could ogle at them the whole day and they wouldn't mind thinking you are looking at them 'cause they are pretty. But I am different."

 _'Besides Clairvoyance, did she had the divine protection of reading minds too?'_

"Nope," she said, "It's just that you are too easy to read."

"Really? If that's the case, pray tell me what I am thinking now." He closed his eyes in deep concentration, willing himself to erect as thick a mental barrier as possible, freezing his face in place so as to prevent her from reading him like just now.

' _If only she had been less mean…I would have seriously fallen for her like I fell for Emilia or Rem,'_ Subaru thought.

"Bygone with your curses!"

"I wasn't-"

"There's no way you would complement me!"

"But I truly did. I thought if only she had been less mean…I would have seriously fallen for her-"

And then he grabbed his mouth. _'F-Fuck! What was I blurting out?!'_

\- Thwack!

Her wand hit him on his head.

"Stop blabbering some nonsense."

Subaru stayed quiet for the rest of the journey, with a face full of embarrassment at what he had just blurted out. There's no way he would fall for this prude; he has Emilia… or he _had_ Emilia, to be more precise.

 _'N-No way… he meant those things? But could he have really…? Shit, what I am brooding for?! He is just a wimp, a masochist, a really immature moron. But his eyes… I could see in them, he didn't lie. Umph! These are all just side-effects of Rem talking about him day and night!'_

Thinking thus, Ram too kept quiet for the rest of the journey.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, Chapter 2 is here. I was seriously thinking of abandoning the project, but being fan of such a great anime, didn't let me do that. One reason why I wanted to quit was because I suck at writing like most of talented people on this site. "ekaterina106" is a very talented beta reader and writer, and is the cause of my writing showing some potential. So, I will continue to write and that too in the long run. Thank for all the readers who give me motivation to continue writing despite my weaknesses. Please give honest reviews about the chapter and comment on your perspective of how should the story advance.**

The sun was beginning to descend, and the darkness was slowly engulfing the clear skies. Meanwhile, Subaru was toiling arduously as he had to carry a shit-load of exquisite Karagi groceries, while Ram was walking beside him with the same stoic expression as always. Subaru was trying to distract himself with something so that the burden would lessen somewhat.

' _Those slender hands, white as the moonlight itself; such a cute face. The red eyes… they were looking at… me?'_ He shook his head as he noticed... that she had noticed him.

"Barusu, if you look at me with those perverted eyes again, I would gouge them out and leave you in the wilderness."

"I was not… Well, yes, I did look at you and was having thoughts about you, but they weren't perverted!"

"If I even come into your mind, it's an insult for me. I don't know what sort of things you may be doing in your mind to me."

"I told you I was not having such thoughts! Besides, what do you have to qualify as someone whom a guy will have perverted thoughts of?"

"So the guy with scary eyes thinks I am not attractive enough?"

"It's not that. You are very beautiful, but your beauty isn't measurable by how you look, or whether you're seductive enough. You are weak… no, not that, you can still cause carnage and destroy me in a split second, but still… compared to other magical beings, you are. You can't store mana by yourself, and that gives you a big disadvantage, yet instead of sitting in a room all day, drowning in despair… unlike someone like me, you take control; even if it's trivial things, you do it. That's the thing I like about you. That's why you are beautiful… not because you are cute or something! Besides, you are the living example of a 'tsundere' character in anime…."

' _Where's he going with this?'_ Ram thought, secretly quite pleased.

"You always insult me and reprimand me for trivial things. But inside, you were looking for someone whom you can vent out all your anger. I want you to know I am there for you. I will keep on absorbing your insults, although it sometimes hurts too much, but I really want to be there for you!" Subaru said. "Ouch!"

Subaru cried as Ram hit him on his head with her wand.

"Just get these to the carriage already. I can't let you slack off by giving out all these false flattery."

"But…"

Ram had already out-paced Subaru by that point, walking awkwardly fast for someone her size. But one thing was certain, as only she could feel… _'What am I getting all flustered for? Why am I grinning? Someone… can someone please kill me already?'_

As the carriage drew towards Irlam Village, the starry sky had enveloped the skies completely. It was cold, verily so, especially because they were out in the wild and exposed to the biting wind, blowing through the gaps among the high number of trees. Ram's face showed an expression of irritation, as her mana had depleted significantly, eliciting a sense of unease for the exact reason Subaru had just mentioned in his foolish attempt to woo her.

Subaru was looking outside, looking quite comfortable in his P.T jacket, as it was enough to keep his upper body generally warm. Ram was trying to stop her irritation due to the temperature by trying to sleep. It was all in vain, though. Due to the mana depletion, her body wasn't able to warm her from insides and she was shivering uncontrollably.

As she was frowning with closed eyes, she felt something being placed on her, something _warm_. She opened her eyes to see Subaru only an inch away from her. He had placed his jacket on her. _'How did he know I was feeling cold?'_

"I have known you for a good amount of time, my sleeping beauty. Keep that façade for someone else." And then he moved back to his own seat.

Ram was crying from the inside. _'What is he doing to me? So cheesy! Cheesy! I want to hit him now. How dare he make a move on me?! I have only vented my anger at him all this time; I have made his time miserable, then why? So this was what Rem was talking about…'_ Thinking thus, she fell asleep, this time for real.

The journey was going really well. Patrasche was a good runner; her divine protection was more than enough to make it to the mansion in an hour or so. But something made her stop abruptly, before she gave out a shrill cry of anger. Ram woke up, rubbing her eyes. "What's up, Barusu?" Sheasked.

"Let me check it out," he said, jumping out. He leaned ahead to see something, but unlike modern Japan, there were no lights here. However, he had his Meteor, which was his infamous 'Smartphone'.

He activated the flashlight. The light weakly illuminated the front , as some shadows moved under it; they were all hooded, with their clothes stretched to their legs with gleaming red eyes.

' _Fuck.'_

They're witch cultists.

' _I need to warn Ram.'_ Subaru was about to turn, when two shadowy figures leapt out at him.

"Hey, Ley, don't we have a rather interesting prey to hunt tonight? He looks waaaaaaaaay delicious," the one with disheveled brown hair said, his hands carrying two short swords which were so sharp they were gleaming in the night.

"Now, come on. That sweet scent, the very essence of which is being emitted from his soul, is making my mouth water," the other one continued. This one was a short boy with his hair extending femininely to his thighs.

They both had the same dirty grin which showed their razor-like sharp teeth which could have gnawed even rock to pieces.

' _I hope I don't have to deal with those teeth in the fight…'_ Subaru thought, trying desperately to connect with his Gate.

"Looks like someone is trying to put up a fight! Well, I would have liked the meal to be without cuts and scratches…"

"Before I, Natsuki Subaru, the Knight of Emilia-tan's camp, render you with broken teeth and handicapped bones, I would like you all to retreat from wherever shit hole you came from!" Subaru said with a determined pose. But inside, he was shaking like a leaf. He had no power, but if he could find out a weakness or two…

Still, was he really ready to die that many times now?

"'Subaru'?, I wanted to meet someone who made the great Elsa taste defeat for so long!" The second person's crazed eyes clearly showed some recognition to his name. "Sorry, we never told you our name, did we? I am Ley, and this is Roy. We are the Sin Archbishops of Gluttony." the one with extremely long hair said.

Subaru's began to have goosebumps all over his body. The battle with a single Archbishop was already so difficult, but now he has to face two vicious looking children, who were speaking of making a meal out of him so casually?. Here, there was no one with him, either to fight alongside or to help, unlike Julius who helped him last time out.

Patrasche simply snorted, ready to attack.

Subaru closed his eyes and exhaled all his worries away. _'Come, fate! Come at me with all you've have got!'_ Subaru thought, dashing for Ley and Roy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ekaterina106 thank you very much for editing this chapter so that's its readable. The shipping is quite challenging, I have myself begin to think that…Subaru X Ram…seriously but the unexpected ideas I come up with, it's just too intriguing. Please review the chapter and give me your ideas for how the story should go, as your satisfaction comes first. Comment down if you find any fault or flaw, and I would like to chat with you if you wanted to give more brief opinions.**

Rem was twisting and twirling in her bed.

' _Why didn't Subaru-kun let Rem come with him…? Maybe he cares more about Rem; that's why he didn't want Rem to tag along, considering Rem was ill. But still, Rem wants to be with Subaru-kun. Rem can only hope he doesn't encounter another misadventure this time around.'_

It turned out Rem's prayers went unanswered.

Subaru rushed towards one of the cultists who had already began chanting a spell.

"Al-"

But before he could complete it, Subaru gave him a hard blow straight towards his chin. Although Subaru was useless, and(he had clearly said this to himself several times, he had practiced martial arts by looking at various YouTube videos, however much that counts. His father also made him workout daily, so his strength, too, wasn't absolutely negligible.

"Al-Goa!" Another cultist chanted, and a large swathe of fire made its way towards Subaru. Subaru had to think of something in an instant. No, the fire was large enough to engulf him even if he tried to dodge it, and he couldn't use Shamak, either. His gate was already tormented enough, straining under the duress, and even if he staked his life by using it, it wouldn't even act as a shield to prevent the fire from touching him.

His mind went numb from thinking so much, when the sea of fire was coming at him with alarming speed. He looked towards Patrasche, who was fighting with two cultists on her own. He opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

' _Congrats, Fate on winning again!'_

\- Swoosh!

Subaru opens his eyes to see the fire had vanished, and he turned to see his savior. The moonlight seemed to beam more intensely in her direction, highlighting her heroic figure, but it was simply the girl with pink hair, clad in her maid uniform.

"Ram!" Subaru cried with happiness.

"Barusu, call me sooner when such things happen. Others may see this as an act of bravery, but for me it's just idiocy at its peak," she says, while knocking out another cultist with a chant of "Al-Fula!", which conjured a large air blade chopping his head clean off.

It flew and landed on Roy's feet, who instantly grabbed it. "Waste of food," he said, and threw it away.

The cultists had been mercilessly murdered by both Patrasche and Ram, with not a single one remaining among this massacre. Subaru could do nothing but watch those people fight… people who actually _could_ do something. It was at times like these where tears began to form in his eyes, thinking, _'How useless am I…!'_.

Ram's eye darted towards Ley and Roy.

"You bastards… I will continue cutting you both till all of your blood seeps into the soil. Let's see if that bitch of yours, whom you worship, can help you then!" Ram yells at the top of her lungs. Her scream contained all her rage, her long bottled angst against the cult, and it managed to give Subaru goosebumps. But as she is about to complete a chant…

"Al-"

Her legs began to shake weakly, and she collapsed onto the ground.

"And we thought tonight we are going to have some real fun!" Roy said with a sadistic grin on his face.

"RAM!" Subaru screamed and rushed towards her, grabbing her in his arms. She struggled against his caring grip, but he calmed her down by patting her head. "You have done enough. You don't have any mana left. Let me continue from here!"

However, not even he believed his own voice, since it's coated with a clear tremble.

"Coming from you, those words are hardly giving me any hope…" she muttered, as darkness began to engulf her eyes.

"If only she were conscious, I would have given her some badass reply, but situations like these tells me it's time for another restart. If that's what's going to happen, I should actually try to at least land a punch or two on them!"

With this determination, he stood up and proceeded towards them. The chilly winds wasn't able to hinder Subaru's quickening pace, as he clenches his fist and rushes towards the gluttony duo.

"Take these, you bastards!" He yells, trying to attack Roy, who dodges it with negligible difficulty.

It's clear the difference between their strength. On one hand, the other party was a frickin' _cultist_ , by witch's grace. On the other hand, a newbie who's only trained for barely a month, no matter how hard Subaru tried to enhance his strength, clearly was no match to fight these ruthless killers, who were taught to kill since they could stand up.

Ley, meanwhile, launched himself into the air and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, sending Subaru flying towards the carriage. Patrasche instinctively relaxed and bent her body to minimize the impact and avoid toppling over, yet, his back still hurt like hell. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, right at the side where Ley kicked him, strangling his right arm's movements.

' _Just from a single kick…! Shit!'_

"Patrasche, I will divert them, you rush to the village and tell Otto to inform anyone in the mansion about this!" He wanted to send Ram along as well, but she was too far away from him. Timing here was very crucial, and he couldn't waste a single moment.

Patrasche was reluctant to leave him, proud of his bravery, and a part of her wanted to just grab him in her mouth and run away till she had no energy left to continue further. But that would never make him happy, this she knew very well from their time spent during the White Whale Hunt. With tears in her eyes, she darted off ahead. Roy went to block her, but he was distracted by the limping Subaru who still continued to make his way towards him with a pure expression of unfathomable anger.

Patrasche used her Divine Protection of Wind Evasion and dodged the distracted Roy. He received a blow from Subaru, but that hardly made him flinch. "That's all you have got?!" He said, grabbing the left hand of Subaru easily, preventing him from unleashing another hastily-prepared blow.

He punched Subaru deep in his guts several times, until Subaru spit blood and who knew what else from his mouth.

' _It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. IT HURTS LIKE HELL! No, I don't want to die again! NOOOO!'_

Roy slammed Subaru's head into the ground. The collision sent him reeling, his eyes flickering as he was unable to adjust to either the brightness of the moonlight or darkness of the woods on either side of the road. Through blurred vision, Subaru saw Ley carrying someone, and then he threw her down near him. Subaru tried to dash forward, but Roy grabbed him by the hair and prevented him from moving even a little bit.

Ley said, "We were told to just return with you. ALIVE. But there's no fun in that, isn't it?"

Roy continued, "All those tasks she gave us? This was _by far_ the simplest. And 'simple' doesn't satiate our hunger. There's nothing to eat. You don't even look scared of dying, and that fear is very precious to us."

The sickeningly sadistic glint in his face didn't even faze Subaru one bit. All he wanted to do was chuckle at this comment. If only they knew their own goddess was the one who gave him the _special_ gift 'Return by Death'… They would definitely flip.

"So, we thought this girl is special to you, isn't she?" Ley said.

All colors, whatever remained, drained immediately from Subaru's face.

' _No, No, No… Nooo… I don't like where's this conversation's going one bit!'_ Subaru thought, his face full of fear. _'Nothing should happen to her. What could I possibly do?'_

"Have you ever heard of somebody's existence getting eaten?"

Subaru was too scared to reply, Besides, his health was already diminished to his lowest point, just half a step away from death.

"What if you wake up tomorrow and look at her, but can't remember her? You mind will chant again and again, it will hint you with these still visages of her, but you won't be able to decipher them. She will be _nothing_ , she won't even recognize herself. Believe us, blessings of Gluttony can help us do that. And we will do that. Nothing personal, you know? We just want some trophy of our achievement here. She was at least a fighter. You were _nothing_ ; we can't even compare you with wild beasts."

Their words rubbing salt into his wound. And his wounds were already very open, bleeding profusely from his heart and inferiority complex.

Ley grinned as he took her hand in his, and then he begins to lick it. Subaru was disgusted by his actions; he wished for nothing but a chance to cut Ley into thousand pieces. His mind was barraging with twisted desires to kill them both in most gruesome ways possible, to give them pain of a lifetime, before their soul leaves their body.

But it's all useless.

' _I'm useless.'_

If his face wasn't this messed up, tears of frustration would've flowed freely from his eyes. _'I'm just… so useless! What 'fate'?! This is just wrong!_ _ **Everything's**_ _wrong! Getting summoned like some cool isekai anime characters, but bestowed with the worst superpower. I have to suffer pain to accomplish everything. Why? WHY?! The lamest type of magic, a damaged gate… Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Just… when will this end? Had the worst not pass yet?'_

Weakly, he twitched his fingers in her direction, where her body was being sullied by these two crazy bastards.

' _Ram… Ram… Please please please please please please please… God, if you're there, just save her. PLEASE! Please do something… I don't care what happens to me!'_

Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, Ley gobbled up Ram's existence. Moonlight slowly became dimmer, as though the nature around them was saddened by what's happening. Ley had eaten only half of her, and Roy was going to have his fill with the rest.

But a sudden change in air stopped him in his tracks.

An aura of thick miasma was detected by their highly trained noses and reflexive abilities. Ley scanned around, and seemed stupefied when he looked at Roy. Confused, Roy slowly turned his neck, to see that Subaru's hands were glowing with the intensity and luminosity of an actual fire.

 _Something_ was protruding from his head and shoulders.

They both were too stupefied to properly analyses the situation. Slowly, horns emerged; one from his head and two from his shoulders. And they were glowing orange in the middle of the night; their intensity was great enough to illuminate half a mile of area.

Subaru was there, but he also wasn't at the same time. His eyes were surrounded by raw black color; not an inky darkness, but a bestial abyss. And his demeanor clearly conveyed how angry he was.

Rey and Loy rushed towards him with their usual stance, eager to stamp out this 'variable' before it could thwart their plan. As they emerged, flanking either side of him, he swiped his hand to create a barrier of fire which defended him from their attacks, and then sent them flying away.

They had never expected this, but a greater and mysteriously powerful being was ready to attack them. And that, too, in place of a person who seemed as fragile as a cheaply-made glass.

Subaru had an evil grin on his face. He was pumped up beyond words.

He was ready to give them innumerable levels pain, for they had hurt someone special to him.

Yes, she was _special_ indeed.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is all thanks to ekaterina016 because due to all the pressures surrounding my mind. I wrote a terribly worn out chapter and whatever glory this chapter has is all thanks to ekaterina016. He's a straightforward and talented beta reader and editor. Do tell me what do you think about this work; comment your reviews and share the story as these views keeps me going.**

Ley furiously attacked, launching spell after spell mixed with a variety of fighting techniques befitting his 'Master-Class Fighter' title. Many of them were acquired using his 'Gluttony' authority, gaining all the skills and abilities of his victims' souls.

However, no matter how many he used, Subaru countered every single one of them.

If it was the old Subaru, he would've been shredded to pieces in the initial exchanges, but that's precisely the problem: _he's become someone else_.

Ley could tell exactly that, as he looked into the young man's eyes, and _something else_ looked back. It's sinister, one which would lay carnage onto anything near and around him if triggered.

In the middle of a fast-paced brawl, Ley jumped and raised his leg up high, intent on pulverizing the ground below him. It should've been difficult to dodge, a combination of Ley's inherent skill and the wide space it took, but Subaru, once again, dodged it perfectly by jumping back _a hair_ outside of the attack's range. The space where he once stood became a wasted crater, and among the overthrown rocks and dirt, a grin of pure malice was directed at Ley.

Roy tried to prevent the incoming blow, but Subaru's fist had already flown past him first and landed square on Ley's body, sending him flying a good distance and petrifying him with painful spasms wrecking his solar plexus. Obviously not done, Subaru's right hand still hadn't left his victim's stomach, instead glowing brightly with a fire element along with his left. Ley tried to get up, but his tormentor's left hand was faster, snatching his face faster than a snake and slamming him back into the ground.

Then a punch came smashing into his skull.

And another.

And another. And another. And another.

Desperate, Roy decided to use Lunar Eclipse, one of the trump card of 'Gluttony'. Internally, he swore again and again, damning this worsening situation, which clearly turned out _not_ how they'd planned. Against other strong warriors and experienced mages, they had a great time, slowly playing with their intended victims until they succumbed into fatigue. End of story. After 'playtime' was over, all they had to do was clean up.

This was the first time they'd met someone who felt like he could end their lives with the ease of snapping his fingers.

Lunar Eclipse certainly took effect, as he felt its drain on him immediately. Neither he nor Ley could handle the ability perfectly, even when they're in perfect condition. Ley was unconscious after the first hard smack to the face, and it's only a wonder how on earth his skull still hadn't smashed into pieces yet. It's a gamble, sure, but for the sake of their lives? Roy would gladly take it.

He snuck behind Subaru, who seemingly was occupied making sure Ley was as _dead_ as possible. However, he missed the young man's ears twitching, having detected his movement.

Imperceptibly, Subaru murmured, "I'm beginning to like this game."

Roy aimed his fist high towards Subaru's back of the head, bolting towards him as quick as lightning. _'I got him! Just… just a bit more…!'_

He missed.

Subaru casually tilted his head left, letting said fist sail straight into Ley's already-battered face. Just before impact, all Roy could note was how his friend already looked unrecognizable, even to him. Before he could recompose himself, he felt a sharp pain cutting across his shin, which was, of course, broken as soon as he could lay his eyes on it, courtesy of Subaru's sharp kick.

Almost immediately, Roy could feel the hair on his arms burn. His breath caught in his throat when he observed Subaru's three horns, one on his head, and one on each shoulder, glowed, summoning a tornado of fire around him.

"This is FUN. SO FUN! I haven't feel this much power in _decades_. I can do anything, now…" Laughing hysterically, Subaru seemed to be lost in his own world, ignoring the hobbling Roy or the half-dying Rey.

By using some of the souls stored inside him, Roy tried to soothe the pain and heal the various wounds on his body, but his mind was still stupefied by the scene in front of him. In Subaru's eyes, gone were the passionate fire he had when Roy toyed with the girl, or the dark hatred he shot the pair of them when he first attacked in futility.

In them… was the same insanity Roy and Ley had. It wasn't the light of a human. Not anymore.

He rushed to Ley and threw him on his shoulder, turning tail and desperately escaping. They needed to regroup, _fast_ , and preferably returning with some overpowered army to bury this… this _monster_ deep, deep underground.

Only a few steps left, yet the two of them didn't make it.

A huge sphere of flame blindsided them from above, engulfing them in a large explosion, potent enough to reduce everything around them, even the hard ground, into ashes, and creating a plume of smoke visible from miles away. From the corner of Roy's eyes, the last thing he could make out, before the pain of being roasted alive overwhelmed him, he could see Subaru slamming his fist to touch the ground, likely guiding the flame-meteor towards them.

"Tsk. Still alive? What tough bastards…" Subaru was disappointed when he strolled over to the two charred bodies lying on the ground, hands lazily placed on his hips.

The couple's mana had long dissipated, much too weak to even gain consciousness, much less moving a finger. Kicking their bodies a few more times, _hard_ , Subaru grumbled. "Fuck the two of you! Now I need something else to play with!"

He wasn't talking to particularly anyone, but it still made the newcomer stiffen.

Turning around, Subaru observed the man, well-built with indigo hair framing his heterochromatic eyes. _'Roswaal,'_ a part of his unconsciousness noted, informing his current persona.

\- Static.

The older man had healed Ram to the point she was conscious and weakly moving. Somewhere, very, _very_ deep down, there's something about the two which struck him as familiar, but the malice of carnage and destruction drowned those thoughts.

\- Static. Static. Static!

He chose to rush forwards towards Roswaal, ignoring Ram's yell.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Her voice possessed none of the cold, demure tone from before, but it was _sweet_ … befitting an embodiment of melody itself. Normally, the boy's heart would've been stirred by it, but not this time, as he's too focused on the rampaging infantile tyranny inside him. His hands, still stained by Rey's broken pieces of flesh and bone and splatters of blood, radiated with energy once again, making their way towards Roswaal's face.

Yet, unlike Roy and Ley, the man was calm, putting on an innocent, yet at the same time, an intimidating look, irking Subaru even further.

Once, in the past, a blue-haired girl whose face brought no name to Subaru's current mind told him, _"Demons are thought as terrifying beings who brings death and destruction wherever they go."_

\- STATIC. STATIC! STATIC!

His target disappeared.

Subaru was mildly shocked. He could slaughter those two insane, dangerous cultists, yet this clown-like bimbo was able to evade his strike? His irrational brain failed to notice the greatest magician of Lugnica, the Dragon Kingdom, had dodged above him not by jumping, but _floating_.

A spear of light rammed itself straight into the largest horn on Subaru's body, right on his forehead, summoned by the spirits of six elements. It was an impossibly-quick chant, as the magic circle practically formed without warning and launched its attack. Naturally, the power wasn't compromised by its speed in the slightest, a testament of Roswaal's mastery of his craft.

Yet, struck by an attack which could disintegrate any second-rate magician in an instant, Subaru merely stumbled slightly, glaring above him with an inhuman ferocity.

Ram was unusually tense, her eyes fixed on the horns protruding from the (unfamiliar) boy's body. Obviously, the (foreign) man was helping her from the (unrecognizable) boy, who's intent on harming the two of them. _'Why does he have horns? Is he… one of us…?'_

Subaru launched himself into the air, his mind set in a plan, as simple as it could get: he would punch him like he did to Ley, and break this jester's body beyond recognition. His instincts told him to forgo all sorts of complicated strategies; against a person like Roswaal, a skillful battle would only put him at a disadvantage. However, before he could land nary a scratch on the older man, he saw Roswaal's lips mutter something unintelligible while pointing towards him.

And his body dropped to the ground like a rock through water. His body jerked uncontrollably, as his limbs refused to listen to his head's commands, and pain – oh, the _pain_ – was so intense, thousands of times worse than being struck with lightning. His body naturally contorted into a fetal position, yet the pain was never-ending.

Under Roswaal's guarded stare, the three horns on Subaru's body slowly but surely began to shrink. Darkness engulfed the boy's consciousness faster than the horns' shrinking, but not before he could let out an anguished cry.

"W-WWHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!"

 _Why?_ Why would Roswaal… and Ram… _hurt_ him? Why? Why did she just _stand_ there without a change of expression…? Did she want _this_ in her heart? What… What had he _done_ …?

"My dear Ram, are you all right?" Roswaal asked, obviously concerned of the girl.

"Yes. I am all right but… who are you?"

Her tone was _too_ sweet, bereft of the familiar sharpness Roswall's gotten used to. No, in her head, apart from her name, she remembered… _nothing_. Why was she here? Where _was_ 'here'? Who were all these people lying around half-dead? Why… why was she so _weak_?

The questions were too much for her strained mind, and slowly, her eyes lost their focus and drooped down. Her body would've followed suit, but her 'master' caught her before she slammed into the ground.

Roswaal scratched his head, smacking his lips and tensing his jaws. "This could be a problem."

Well, that's quite understating the situation.

Before long, Patrasche arrived alongside Emilia and Rem, who're just as surprised at the surroundings as Ram did.

"W-What's going on?" Rem, distressed, asked her master with a quivering voice. She could see, despite his calm outward appearance, Roswaal, too, was quite shaken by things. And he _did not_ shake easily.

With a heavy tone, he said, "I shall cut right to the chase. The boy," he pointed at Subaru, "went insane and beat up those two," he indicated to the still-unconscious Roy and Ley, "before trying to attack me and Ram." He continued, despite the two ladies' gasps. "And dear, dear Ram had amnesia. She didn't recognize me or the boy."

Rem rushed straight towards Subaru, who had dirt and blood and gore and god-knows-what-else covering his body. She hugged him tightly, more so after every single word her master uttered. The scene puzzled Emilia even further. Shouldn't Rem rush to check Ram's conditions first? She's her _sister_ , for crying out loud! Rem was a maid, but this… was _far_ above and beyond her duty to care for him.

They turned to the two cultists, who's regaining consciousness after the souls inside them nourished them slightly, just enough so they could speak. Thrown into the carriage roughly after being chained with a magical rope, Ley growled, "Will anyone get us some water, please?"

He was ignored.

"Roswaal, do you have some… theories, at the very least? Break us out of our worry for the two of them, I beg of you," Emilia muttered sadly.

Roswaal simply shook his head, silently ordering Patrasche to take them back to the mansion.

Beside them, Rem sat still, cradling both Subaru and Ram in her arms. _'S-She will remember. Subaru-kun_ _ **will**_ _remember. I… The two of you, I'm Rem! Rem is here! Please… wake up and call my name…!'_

Her prayers, with her hand clasped on her chest, were unfortunately unanswered.

 **Reminder – Do comment your reviews and share the fanfiction as much as possible.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews, they really really matters a lot, especially to newbie writers like me. Ares041, thanks for being one of my many inspirations for writing a Re:Zero fanfic. "ekaterina016" thanks a lot, for being the best editor out there and helping me polish my fiction to its finest. Please keep on reading and reviewing, and PM me if you don't understand something and/or want to tell me your ideas on how should the story forward. Sorry for boring you with this blabbering and all, please enjoy the story.**

 _ **Something lurks within my soul**_

 _ **A discomforting itch, my eternal torture**_

 _ **Memories stolen by time**_

 _ **Will it ever be redefined?**_

Tumbling and twisting in her bed, Ram woke up with beads sweats flowing down her head. Blinking away her bleariness, she observed her surroundings under a pounding headache, not helped at all by the dim moonlight shining through her window. The chandelier, the mahogany desk, this cozy mattress… they all felt so very familiar, but whatever her subconsciousness was trying to tell her was soon fogged by her own thoughts .

' _Where am I? What's this place?'_

The pink-haired girl could vaguely remember the events which transpired before her eyes when she was in the forest. The boy with three horns… _'Who was he?'_ She pondered. Her naked feet touched the cold ground, sending shivers to the rest of her body. A cupboard, with a mirror mounted in front, showed her reflection, and she couldn't help but notice her appearance had changed so significantly.

Her cold eyes, strong enough to cut rocks, or the stiff and stoic posture, the poster image of a proper maid, were all gone. What's displayed in the mirror was just a frightened lamb, afraid of the world, as it lost its mother in the middle of a bestial forest, an embodiment of purity and innocence. Ram stood, shuffling closer to the mirror and touched the alien reflection…

\- Click.

She turned towards the door to see a blue haired girl, a spitting image to herself, but with much bigger breasts, rushed towards her, arms open and ready for an embrace. However, Ram's hands sharply blocked Rem and ran to the bed, covering herself with the blankets.

"Who are you?!" From the shadows of the blankets, a pair of distrustful pink eyes glares at their blue counterpart, shaking in fear and wariness.

"Nē-sama…" With tearful eyes, Rem killed the ray of hope in her heart, which was still wishing Ram's memory would've returned by now. "Do you not remember me, Rem, your sister?"

"Sister?" They _did_ look identical, but… "I don't remember having a sister!"

"But… Nē-sama …" Rem asked, "So what do you remember about yourself?" She was clever enough to sense that any more pressing on that topic would only make matters worse.

"I-I… Ugh! That's the point! I can't remember a damn thing about myself! It's like I never existed!" Ram was frustrated. "My head hurts so much, like it's going to blow up. I have these fragments playing in my mind whenever I see something or someone, but I can't make a head or tail of it all!"

Rem could see Ram was the verge of tears. However, she took solace in the fact her sister didn't reject her outright, and was speaking and looking at her directly. _'I shouldn't pester her any further. She's about to break down anytime now.'_ So, reluctantly, she bade Ram farewell. "Goodnight, then, Onē-chan…"

Once Rem made her way out of the room, Ram curled further into the blanket and sheet, craving the warmth protecting her from the strange coldness. It certainly wasn't the weather or the malfunctioning heater; the self –numbing loneliness was biting her down to her very bone.

"Mgh…"

Subaru shot awake, though his usual rouse from the bed with only his upper torso was halted due to the muscle pain wrecking both his body and mind. Still bleary, he tried clenching and unclenching his fingers, still recalling the sensation of having so much _power_ coursing through his veins from…

' _Wait… What time is it?'_

The only reply he received was a sobering silence, plus the cold-inducing chilly winds of Irlam Village. Sensing his still-unrecovered exhaustion, he tried to sleep again and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the chain reactions of several fiery red clusters colliding with his gate, as his Od was transforming itself, causing his restlessness.

Roswall was brooding over something in his study room, sitting with a tense look framing his face. _'I have gone through every book and document I had about the creatures of this land. But even after the combined efforts of Beatrice and mine, we weren't able to figure out Subaru's other personality true form, or even its source; there is absolutely no reference of any kind to any three horned creatures. On the other hand, the research to bring back Ram's memories also proved to be futile. She_ _ **have**_ _to regain her memory or else…'_

Uncharacteristically, Roswall's face was dominated with fear, but not because he cared for Ram – well, that _was_ one of the reasons, and a vague one at that – but there was a far more sinister need for it.

The kind which could bring about the end of the world.

After last night's debacle, Ram woke up rather early, despite her physical and mental exhaustion. The morning sun bathed her creamy white skin, as she winced to the infinitely stronger light, compared to last night's full moon. Groggily, she walked towards the door, her lethargy made her forget she's still clad in her translucent nightgown, though the muscle memory ingrained in her retained her grace while walking.

Just in time, then, for her to collide with Subaru right outside her door, forehead to forehead.

The boy was clearly still engrossed in thought, his sleep failing to banish his worry.

""OWWW!"" Simultaneously, the two jumped away from each other, rubbing their reddened foreheads.

Subaru was the first to react, having realized who the other party was. "S-Sorry!" He bowed politely, as if a small child who had accidentally bumped into a lion.

"N-No!" Ram hurriedly replied, bowing in return. "The fault equally lies with me! I was in the way… You're simply thinking about something deep enough and failed to see me."

' _R-Ram… was_ _ **apologizing**_ _to me?!'_

Subaru was staring hard at her, gauging her from top to bottom. Suddenly, he formed a fist on his right hand and slapped it into the palm of his left one. "You can't be Ram!"

"E-Ehh?!"

"If you were real Ram, you would have tried to chop off my head right then, yelling things like, "What's the use of such a head which couldn't fathom a graceful lady coming from other direction?!""

"Was… Was the Ram you know really such a cruel and full-of-herself kind of person?"

"Was Ram…?"

His question was interrupted when a pair of inhumanly strong arms yanked him towards the kitchen, revealing themselves to belong to Rem. "Sorry, Nē-sama, I need Subaru-kun in the kitchen. Pardon us." Giving off a quick but polite bow, Rem furiously dragged the poor boy behind her.

"O-Oi! W-Wait, Rem!" Struggling, Subaru yelled loudly, to no avail. Despite his recent progress, he was still no match for her physical prowess, and Rem paid him no heed.

"Should I help? Yesterday, I saw a maid's dress in my closet. That means I was a maid too, right?"

Rem cut her off. "No, Nē-Sama. You're still confused and weak, so let Subaru and me handle the chores for today."

Subaru protested quite callously, "But she is always slacking off, anyway! And why is she talking in such a weird manner?! Has she hit her head, or…"

Before he could finish, Rem roughly covered Subaru's mouth, giving off a apologetic and sheepish grin to Ram, and dragged him into the kitchen. Fortunately, Ram was distracted by the view of the beautiful lawn to the side through the windows, and didn't seem to mind his comments.

"Puha!" Subaru gulped down large breaths of air soon after they arrived in the kitchen. Rem's monstrous strength had almost chocked him to death.

"Sorry, Subaru-kun, but that was necessary."

"What the heck, Rem?!" Subaru was angry, frustration clearly showed on his face "What was that all about?!"

It took Rem quite some time to explain everything clearly to Subaru, as his mind wasn't able to digest all the things at once. She omitted the fact was about his three-horned personality, though; one, because she lacked Roswaal's knowledge and authority on the matter, and two, because she didn't want to know how he would take it if he knew there's a second evil personality inside him.

"So, Subaru-kun, could you stay by Nē-sama's side and take care of her for some time? Rem has to make breakfast, and although I like the things you make, but your food's is still not good enough to be served to everyone here, or they will suffer from stomachache, okay?"

"T-The last line was unnecessary, Rem-chan…" Subaru grumbled quietly to avoid hurting her feelings, and left the kitchen while frowning. Come to think of it, she's such a sweet girl, the total opposite of her sister, as shown by the sheer devotion needed to eat and finish his failure of a ramen without complaining.

But, somehow, his mind began to look for Ram on its own, and saw her standing by the fountain and glaring at it.

' _She's glaring at it like a child… That's so cute…!'_

Ram was busy admiring the beautiful dance patterns the fountain's water was making.

Carefully, Subaru approached her. "Hello there, Ram. Beautiful view, isn't it?"

Ram was fidgeting. "H-Hello…" However hard she tried, she couldn't remember his name. _'T-That's impolite of me…!'_

"Subaru," he said extending his hand. "Subaru Natsuki."

Having heard of Ram's current condition, or the barebones of it, at least, Subaru tactfully introduced himself in reserve. There's little incentive for him to act like how he usually was around her, i.e. a jackass and his retainer, or even as a familiar acquaintance.

"It's a beautiful view, Subaru-sama," she politely talked, eerily like a scare-dy cat.

"Pfft!" Despite reminding himself of her amnesia, he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud. "Ahahaha!" Holding his stomach, he thought, 'S-Sama! She called me frickin' 'Sama'!'

"It's rude to laugh at someone's comment like that!" Ram pouted, clearly not appreciating his humor.

"S-Sorry… It's rare to see someone so usually and casually cruel with her words talking to me with respect… Ram."

"Ugh…" Ram shuddered. "It seems I was a horrible person before. I apologize for any misdeeds against you, Subaru-sama."

Without warning, her eyes saddened. Lightly panicking, Subaru hurriedly interrupts. "Sorry, Ram! It's just that… I still can't believe I am having these normal talks with you. Because… the previous Ram hated and treated me like I am some pest. In jest, jest, you know! That's our thing!"

"Why would someone hate you? You seem to be a good person."

"Bu… B-Bufu… Bfhaaa… AHAHAHAHAAA!"

This time, Subaru managed to laugh himself into a curling position on the ground, pounding the paved lawn around him to suppress his voice, to no avail. Seeing Ram so innocent – and very cute – was incredibly hilarious.

"O-Ouch!"

Then, not missing a beat, a sharp stomp speared into his foot, courtesy of the pouting Ram.

"You explained it well. I guess this was one of the reasons that she hated you."

Despite the pain, Subaru eyes were transfixed on her. He had never saw her like this… so _open_ and more delightful than the cold-hearted snob she was before. Cruelly, somewhere in his heart, he prayed she would always stay like this. As to what happened to her memories… if the loss did make her a better person, then…

Darkly, he comments in-between fits of laughter, "Although I would try to my best to cure your amnesia, but I'm starting to like this Ram more and more. She is way too cute!"

Ram's face turned red, full of embarrassment, and she started to storm away, flustered. "Stop teasing me! Another reason to hate you!"

Subaru began to chase after her, not realizing with every step he made, his heart began to beat to a different tune.

One of a person in love.


	6. Chapter 6

***I wanted to post this chapter as early as possible, because it had been quite some days since I wrote it, but the editing and proofreading took time. This chapter wouldn't have had whatever quality-work it does have without the help of "SocialistBukharin". "ekaterina016" haven't been active recently, but I can't help to give her credit for every chapter that I write, because he's the one whose continuous remarks are slowly polishing my skills as a writer. And I can't give enough to all those people who are still reading the story, and helping me with their ever-important reviews***

 ***Do give your honest opinions and remarks for corrections in the review section***

 ** _Still in pain and yet,_**

 ** _These lips smile_**

 ** _As we remember those blissful moments_**

A simple worst-case-scenario wasn't exactly what had happened to Ley and Roy.

' _We are fucking Archbishops of Gluttony. How the fuck did we end like this…_ 'Ley and Roy thought in unison as they realized that both of their hands were chained to the wall behind them.

They were forcefully seated on rough, wooden chairs with an equally cheap, wooden desk in front of them. This room felt like a dungeon yet it looked far better than the one they held in their secret hideout as it lacked the usual, various torturing devices decorated on the walls, those similar to paintings of a very morbid artist that cherished the pain of torture.

' _What is going on?! Why do I feel so much weak!_ ' Ley's mind soon went through a massive session of rage-induced cursing at the possible culprit of their predicament and soon his companion realised whom might have betrayed them.

Roswaal had decided against the fact of revealing their presence in his dungeons, having Rem to keep Subaru's unaware of how close they were to them in that very moment.

He had plans how to deal with his new prisoners, craving more information that they might be holding, hiding.

It was simple, he had thought as he planned for the torture schedule, opting to not provide them with even the smallest amount of bread crumbles nor a single glass of water.

Even in their weakened states, the Archbishops were far from harmless even if their body looked no better than those kids from the capital's slums.

If he failed to kept them in his possession, the Margrave was quite sure that the tense silence in the mansion would turn sour, something he grimaced by even thinking about it.

The room was special, having built it with the purpose of suppressing the capacity to formulate spells inside of it, thus putting both Roy and Ley in a worse disadvantage if they even managed to evade their confinement.

If that wasn't enough, the room had a particular whitelist regarding its role, making its owner the only one being capable of using magic inside of it.

Deciding that safe was better than sorry, the chains were made of the strongest metal, to hold the prisoners as tightly secured as possible.

When reality finally sink in their minds, a long forgotten feeling started to rabidly devour their mind, throwing them in chaotic shivers and tremblings.

' _What is this feeling? It's making us restless, it's itchy. NO! it can't be, noooooo!_ '

They would have raged if they had owned at least a particle of magic at their disposal, yet the cold feeling of dread and fear had once more consumed them, both curling in a panicked way, leaving the two uncertain of their future.

It was a merry morning in the mansion as the silent blanket of the cold weather enveloped most of the residents, except three.

A blue haired maid was busy preparing breakfast for the rest as her red haired twin was silently humming outside.

Ram wasn't one to slack over chores, yet her amnesia had annoyingly removed most of her experience as a maid, making her close to useless in many departments.

Her pout grew on her face and with a "hmph!" she was storming towards the small hovel surrounded by flowers of various kind.

Subaru blinked and as he followed her, reached out to grab her hand, apologizing continuously.

He tripped, taking the girl with him to the ground, but the young man wasn't going to let her get hurt.

As they fell, his hands turned her around and took most of the pain of the impact, avoiding further injury to befall on the former maid.

Around them were lovely flowers with yellow petals and attractive red stigma in the centre and Subaru realised that he had toppled on top of her, his lips moments away from hers.

They both stared at each other for few moments, their cheeks flushing as they finally grasped what had just happened. The NEET was the first one to jerk back up and Ram too sat straight in the kneeling position.

"I am sorry, I didn't-" His feeble apology was interrupted by the maid's quick words.

"No. I-It's ok." She sighed, a blush still present in her face. "I saw that you went to protect me from the fall."

Subaru stared at her, with a similar blush on his face, his eyes pensively studying Ram.

' _She's so much cuter when she's flustered..._ '

Ram noticed his intense gaze her blush turned into much deeper shades of red.

"Seriously Ram," Subaru said with a quiet tone, as if doubtful of himself about what he was going to say. "I am so happy you turned out to be this way, as selfish of me to say this."

"Subaru-sama…" she would have said more, explained more yet a cry from Rem caught her off-guard, her sister rushing towards them "Roswaal-sama wishes to speak with you in his study."

Subaru gave a quick glance at Ram's direction. "Why would he want to talk with me so early in the morning?" His expression turned into serious as he remembered. "Is it one of the tricks, like the morning one?"

Rem grimaced and sighed. "I am sure it is not, Subaru-kun. I told you that was necessary and I said I was sorry but- _but_ it seems you hadn't forgiven me" she bowed, her shoulders twitching as bangs covered her face "Please Subaru-kun, forgive me."

Subaru froze as he could clearly see that she was one the verge of tears.

'Why do I do this every time to her? She's always so nice to me and I…'

Once again the young man had caused a girl to cry and once more he felt even more of an idiot.

He slowly moved his hand above the maid's head and soon started to pat Rem's hair, the girl stunned by the action yet blushed at the nice sensation.

"Rem, how many times I have told you? I couldn't stay mad at you for any reason possible. I just do or say this kind of stuff just to see those cute, childish reactions of yours."

"Rem doesn't act childish!" She replied, a childish pout in her face.

"Are you sure?" At this Subaru began to pull her cheeks, surprising the maid as she yelped in pain at the 'attack'.

"Shubaru, yuu meaniee!"

Ram giggled, enjoying the light-hearted scene and she didn't sense a prayer being carried out inside her heart; a hope for those days to never end.

Rosawall's focus on the tome in his hands was diverted to the door of his study as Subaru entered the room with his usual "Good Morning Ros-Chi!"

"Good morniiing Subaruuu-kuuun" Roswaal said with the natural sheepish smile of his, closing the book in his hands.

Subaru sat on the empty chair near the Margrave's desk. "So Ros-Chi why was I summoned in early morning? You know, a person enjoying himself with two cute maids after the insane amount of thing he had to go through should never be bothered for several years." The young man sighed. "Although, knowing you Ros-Chi this isn't your usual request for some shenanigans to kill your free time."

"You know me Subaru-kun, I keep those pleasantries to the dining table... this time the topic is somewhat serious."

"Serious?"

Subaru wasn't exactly shocked to hear that word in general but couldn't just ignore the intensity behind the tone that Rosawaal had said it with.

"This is about Ram." The NEET's attention was now fully caught by the topic as he waited for the man to continue.

"Do you remember anything before waking up here?"

"Well.." Subaru's left hand was placed on his chin, a pensive expression in his face. "I do remember going to Karagi market where I had to carry out most of the items due to Ram slacking off…"

Both Subaru and Rosawall chuckled at his statement and then he continued. "But the moment after we set for the mansion feels.. missing. When I think about it…Fuck! I saw them…"

He would have fallen down if Roswaal wouldn't have caught him by his sleeves. "Ros-Chi, there were those…Archbishops of Gluttony."

Subaru stared at Roswaal, the Margrave looking suspiciously quiet. "How the hell did we survive them? I saw Ram on ground and I couldn't do anything to save her. Now that I remember it, I was quite sure I-"

A cold squeeze in his chest paused him, his mind picking a possibility he had forgotten to take into account.

' _What if I had died and this is me looping again?_ '

Yet the warming moments of that morning couldn't have happened if this was him looping then... that meant...

' _I had SURVIVED!...But how?'_

The painful game of death and revival had changed him so much.

Now the Subaru from before, who was optimistic about life and events, had been replaced with the constant paranoia of figuring out how to deal with unfortunate circumstances that had caused his previous deaths.

He had begun to question almost everything, even him being alive more times than once and now that he thought about it..

' _Rem did tell me about Ram's amnesia but why did she hid the fact that I was involved in the incident too?'_

He remembered the person in front of him and sudden realisation hit his mind, remembering that Roswaal was the only one capable of coercing Rem into hiding things from him.

"Ros-Chi" Subaru felt anger boiling in his voice, furious of being played around like a pawn in a big chessboard from the smiling, clow-like individual. "Why did you tell Rem to hide this from me? She just told me that we were attacked but she never mentioned that Archbishops of Gluttony were involved."

"It was foooor youuur beest Suuubaru-kuun to haave not knooown that!" The Margrave replied, no hint of deception the young man could perceive yet, somewhere in the core of Subaru's mind, he was afraid of the mysterious personality that Rosawaal possessed, always hiding essential things from people.

"Looking at your selfless nature." Roswaal continued uncaring of the teen's doubtful expression. "I wouldn't want you taking blame for whatever happened to Ram, like you always do when others are hurt."

The man's smile widened at this curious part that the young man had "You engage yourself in a situation which, although I feel stimulating for someone like me, is suicidal at one point or another."

A genuine worried expression was now plastered on the noble's face.

"You may accuse me for being selfish with my secrets but I can assure you I would not want to wake up one day to see that you have either disappeared or with your corpse lying in some desolate area."

' _Well, Roswaal you certainly don't understand how wrong you are when assuring protection especially when I was killed thrice in your own mansion._ '

Subaru smirked, confusing the Margrave with this reaction.

' _Like usual, always giving the weirdest and more distrustful impressions of him to someone way powerful than him._ '

"Anyway don't you remember anything else? Like something that may have happened to you?"

"All I could think of is that I was going to die." Subaru replied sarcastically, surprising the man even more.

"I doon't uunderstand hoow sooomeboody caan say that with suuch a straight face?"

Subaru was still forbidden to reveal his Return-By-Death powers.

If it wasn't Emilia, Roswaal would be the first one whom he says about it but with the whole hand-thing that killed the one who knew of his secret, his bravery was running low nowadays.

"But seriously Ros-Chi, how did we survive? I remember those two having a hard-core murderous face. I still find it hard to believe they kept us alive till you arrived to save us. Thank you very much, by the way, for saving our lives."

Roswaal waved his hands. "Oh! It was nooothing!"

' _He clearly doesn't remember anything. It seems that those powers are still concealed from him. So he's not a threat…YET_ '

"Subaru-kun youuu caaan go now. We'll talk later at breakfast."

Usually Subaru would have questioned him if he really should go, if Roswaal needed anymore help or just keep cracking up Rosawall's tiredness with his jokes or antics, but Subaru... wasn't feeling it.

He rushed away as soon as he got the green-light from Roswaal, which made the Margrave give him a questionable glance before he dismissed any inquisitive thoughts, turning back on the tome which had a list of various mythical monsters, still searching for the one that looked like the devilish form of Subaru.

Subaru's happy expression turned into a sour one the moment when he dashed towards the lawn and found it empty, even after scurrying here and there in the search for Ram.

He couldn't find her and groaned bored.

He turned back to hurry up and get a bath as he still had to do the usual works of the mansion.

He couldn't let poor Rem do all the chores; it wouldn't be kind of him.

Eyes closed as he sighed tiredly, his head hit something as he turned the corner, falling on the ground together with... someone else?

"Subaru…always so scatter-brained..." Someone yelled in a low pitch and the tone and familiarity of the words made him reflexively reply "Who says scatter-brained anymore?"

As he comforted his aching forehead to soothe the pain from collision his eyes saw whom he had bumped into and his heart quivered in joy.

"E-Emilia?" His shock overcomes the melting sensation he felt as he noticed the cute smile in her face.

A multitude of memories rampaged in his head, from the lap-pillow she gave him when he had bottled up the fear, tiredness and pain within himself to the point of tiring himself out, to the embrace of pure love she had given him which made him work hard to set things all right and her innocent reply to his 'I love you Emilia'.

He thought he could wait for her to feel the same love but it wrenches his heart as she carries on with her ever-increasing duties, not even trying to give him a chance, so that he could show how much he loved her and how blessed he would feel is she loved him back.

So, as their conversations and meetings grew minimal with time, he had thought to move on but he couldn't when she bumped into him every now and then, always behaving so innocently.

"Subaru" Her angry expression brought his out of his brief daze and Subaru paled at the furious glance she gave him "We need to talk"


	7. Chapter 7

***Sorry for this short chapter, but I had to send a filler for the ending of this arc as this one has dragged for too long, I don't even know what I was thinking while planning the beginning arc. Still, the favs and reviews which I got as a beginner were immense and they really helped me come a long way since the first gibberish that I have wrote. So thank you readers, thank you very much. Now comming to main point, I want you to know that I am going on a short haitus, because I have begun the development of my first visual novel, and I don't really know how much time will it take because as a solo developer I have to do most of the work. Rest assured, I will come back soon. Now, please enjoy this chapter which is courtesy of ekaterina016**

 **Please Read and Review***

In a certain dungeon, two battered, cloaked figures were busy in a conversation of utmost importance. The tones which their voices held were not much louder than cautious whispering, but the pitch and ferocity of them were enough to tell the topic was of great importance.

"Are you sure it's him?" One of them spoke.

"Very much so. I haven't felt such immense power in years. The hunger and bloodlust I experienced wasn't those of any commoner," the other one replied.

"That means…"

"Yes, _he's_ still alive."

Subaru was strolling around the lower corridors to brood over some grave matters, those others wouldn't be able to comprehend. One of the many important thoughts he came across was what did Emilia wanted to talk to him about, that too in the night. "Is it possible that...?" but Subaru brushed the thoughts of Emilia getting bold all-of-a-sudden aside. "It all happens because of me, no matter what? What had happened to Ram was somehow connected to me. I really need to know… what _truly_ happened that day? Rem is ignorant of the critical facts and Rosawall doesn't want to reveal anything!. Hmmm…"

In his mulling, he failed to notice he had somehow ended up in the private catacombs of the mansion. This being-at-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time moments, too, was one of the many gifts he possessed, for better or for worse. With his nascent senses, he could barely feel any presences from the desolate corridors, full of brown ceilings and equally pale walls, lined with several doors.

"Ah, fuck, I got lost again. I need to ask Rem for a more detailed tour of each and every inch of this place." Well, in these times, simple was best. Instead of running around in panic, he should choose the most elementary plan of them all: open each and every door until he finds the right one!

' _How long have I been here?'_

Subaru even made sure he didn't simply rush through each door; Roswaal was exactly the kind of person who'd put a room-within-a-room, lined with several frustrating trap doors just as 'entertainment'. However, this method was _slow_. A few hours had gone, and he finally arrived at the queerest parts of the basement.

In front of him was a door. Exquisite, unlike the others. Reddish, unlike the others.

' _Yeah, this door_ _ **isn't special at all…**_ _'_

He opened it, and found two familiar faces starring hard into his eyes. "What the..."

"If you have come to finish us, do it soon. This nothingness is draining our life force, anyway," Ley said dully.

"How the heck are you two here?!" Subaru half-screamed, as his body tensed at the sight of the deadly duo. He could still feel the pain of the last kick he received from them, before fading into pitch-black valley of nothingness.

"We don't know. The man with a weird appearance brought us here after we were defeated."

' _If you think Roswaal was weird, what the hell are you two freaks?!'_ Subaru internally retorted.

Only by then did Subaru observed their condition, at their lusterless long hair and torn-up clothes.. "Wait. What do you mean by 'defeated'? Aren't you supposed to be the powerful and skilled bosses, but with major weakness which the main character has to defeat using logic?"

"Stop blabbering this gibberish. We aren't able to make heads or tails of your nonsensical words. But regarding 'powerful' … errr, we _think_ we still are… but…" Roy got interrupted by his own thoughts, which somehow coincidentally corresponded with the plan which suddenly popped in Ley's head out of blue. They look at each for a split second, and the glint in their eyes telepathically decided their plan.

"But what?" Subaru asked, looking perplexed. He still wanted to know why such nefarious beings were kept in such close range among all the people he cared about.

"Look, we understand that buffoon hasn't told you anything. But we won't discuss something until you open these handcuffs."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Subaru replied. "So that you would kill me or use me as a hostage to get out of here? No, not gonna' happen."

"What the heck is wrong with you? Did the beating smash your brain in half? If we still had that kind of power, we could have easily broken out of here! Why do you think we are still here, for some sort of tea party?"

Subaru pursed his lips, confused. He knew perfectly well these archbishops of sin used deceit as easily as breathing, but then he knew first-hand how powerful they were, so he pondered over the fact they were still here, bounded in chains, nonetheless. Asking Roswall was no longer an option, after how Subaru spoke to him in the study. "That guy has some serious issues of his own, and he wouldn't answer me truthfully anytime soon. The sooner I have a grasp on the situation, the better are my chances of preventing any unfortunate and unforeseeable future."

"Very well. I will unbound you, but you'll have to answer each of my questions and then come with me to Roswall, so I can question him regarding your existence here."

"Do you see any options otherwise? Of course we'll comply with you."

He searched the room for a key, and predictably failed. In fact, he was more unnerved by the wide assortment of dangerous torture weapons mounted on the walls. Then, he saw several small pins near the bench, similar to the ones he often saw in spy movies back in his original world. Small and sharpened on both sides, but they were going to be useful in this case.

' _Don't even wanna' know what these are actually used for.'_

His actions were indecipherable to Ley and Roy, as he looked like struggling to bend two pins into some sort of L-shape. However, they both chuckled at the gullibility of the boy, not too far removed from the beating he took and gave back to them. Plus, he seemingly had lost his memory regarding his untapped power, so in fact, they were in very safe hands.

After a while, Subaru found himself half-standing above their thighs, trying to pick the lock holding their chains in place. Admittedly, this was just a skill he watched in YouTube as a hikikomori, and not professionally done in any way. Just feeling the physical slots moving in the padlocks was hard enough; it's _very_ uncomfortable doing so with one's crotch buried in their sworn enemies' faces.

"Are you sure, you can do this? I certainly don't expect…"

\- Click.

Before Ley can continue with his ranting, the metal around his feet loosened its grip, clanking into the masonry below.. The sense of freedom stimulated him greatly, but something was amiss; yes, the lust of hunger, the sweet ecstatic void of nothingness in his soul waiting to be filled by devouring his opponents. If it wasn't for his lack of power, he would have smashed Subaru's face to pulp then and there. The shame and desire for revenge for the pain and humiliation Subaru's other form inflicted was still fresh in Ley and Roy's head.

"Unshackle me too!" Roy shouted.

"Nope. First I will take him…" Subaru pointed towards Ley, "to Roswall, and _then_ I'll figure what to do with you. C'mon, he has answers to give." Subaru caught Ley's hand and begin to walk out of the door.

Barely taking a few steps, a sharp pain, similar to being crushed with a hill-sized boulder, hit his back. With tears blocking his vision due to the pain, he could only see Ley's malicious smirk and extended palm. Said hand was then clenched and buried deep in Subaru's spine, sending him smashing into the back wall, creating a crater.

A familiar blurry darkness descended upon him, as he's experienced enough 'deaths' already… but not this time.

A smirk formed among the copious amount of blood around his mouth, taking Ley and Roy aback. Instinctively, the freed archbishop took a random weapon nearby – a saw – and cautiously approached the demonic teen. He wanted to see himself as a tiger gauntly walking towards a cornered prey, but he couldn't – he felt the opposite instead.

As the saw neared Subaru's head, the boy simply said maniacally, "End this now."

"Well, fuck you, then!" Ley in panic as he hurled the saw's teeth towards Subaru's throat.

At the next moment, one head was flung till the end of the corridor, with the throat spraying blood like a fountain. Ley was laughing nervously at the crimson shower tainting his face and every bit of his skin.

\- Cough! Cough! Cough!

Trying to throw away the dryness in his throat, Subaru woke up drenched in sweat. For most people, it would have seemed like a simple dream, dismissed as a nightmare.

But not Subaru. His curse, [Return by Death], warned him of the dangers lurking beneath in the catacombs. How could he be such a moron to believe whatever those two monsters were saying? Even more so to dismiss this latest 'vision', 'experience', or whatever as fragments of his sleep.

"He attacked me. But how the hell did he have his power back? If he did already have it, then why didn't he tried to force open the chains? Were they enchanted? If so, how could I pick it? But it still makes no sense he would wait for me to get out of the door…?"

Stuck on the word 'door', he made his way towards Roswall's office.

"That guy has tons of questions to answer!"


	8. Chapter 8

****Whew! I came back, after so much time. I literally had given up hope that I will ever finish this thing but inspiration sometimes come to us where we least expect it. I was still thinking that whether I should continue on or not? I wanted to polish my art but somehow I always feel that my chapters are not upto mark. Still, it is overwhelming that so many people enjoy this work of mine. I don't know still, if this fanfic will ever see a true ending but don't worry readers. I don't plan to go anytime soon now. And if something do happens, like some worst-case scenario, where I will be forced to stop my work. I would give up this fanfic for adoption to some better and experienced writer. Thank you for staying till now and for all the positive reviews. So here's the chapter. Do read and review.****

"Rosawall, what the fuck are you trying to do?" Subaru screamed while opening the study room with a loud THUD!. " _No Ros-Chi today huh!"_ Rosawall had a stoic expression on his face but it didn't manage to subdue the confusion that Subaru's anger induced upon him. He hadn't had the first hand encounter of an angry Subaru, and although he was a proud magician with a strong arsenal of skills and magical talent, he was for the first time since ages scared, that too of this scrawny boy with devilish eyes.

"Subaruuu, is something wrooong?" asked Rosawall keeping an innocent tone in his voice.

"Don't play Dumb with me. There's no way those two devils are here in your mansion, without your knowledge"

 _So heee did found them? There's no point in keeping information to myself anymore._

"They are here for a reason" said Rosawall while sipping a cup of coffee, placed in an luxurious looking cup with a golden handle.

"What reason Ros-Chi…" Subaru said "They are fucking Sin Archbishops of Gluttony. They should be taken care of as soon as we…" and then he stopped coming towards the table, discontinuing his ramblings on the matter. " _Am I really thinking like this? Since when did I begin to casually talk about killing someone? Yes, there were people who have wronged me and people close to me but this feeling…What is this?"_ thought Subaru. Rosawall had a smirk on his face, which he didn't try to hide.

"Doooo youu really think either me or you are capable of killing childrennn, however malicious they may beee?"

"No" was all that he could say, without giving any excuse, for he had none "but we have to do something about them? They can't be left as they are. What if they got out?"

Rosawall then explained to him, about the barrier in the room where the twins Sin Archbishops were enclosed. Subaru was relieved a bit to know about a way to confront them without killing himself.

"Well I don't know what would you say about this but I want you to go to them?" Rosawall begin "and before you interrupt me, I have to say that you have to go there because it concerns her…"

 _Her?_ Subaru thought

" **Ram** "

And he sat on the table to have a talk with Rosawall. Was it because of her or was he really interested in helping Rosawall, only the time would tell.

"And that's how you iron these clothes" said Rem slowly brushing her blue hairs that had made their way near her eyes. Ram has been pestering her about helping in the chores, which Rem tried to avoid but the stubbornness of Ram was one thing that didn't cease to exist even if she had fallen to amnesia. So the blue haired demon was helping her twin with red hair to learn ironing.

"What's this…?" Ram asked looking at a peculiar shirt with an intrinsic design that seemed to be a bit odd.

"It's Subaru-Kun's jacket. He loves wearing it all the time. I wonder why he gave it for laundry"

"There's something here…OH its its" Ram seemed tensed to blurt out something. Rem's eyes went to the back of the jacket where an array of blood trickles can be seen. "Why is this on his clothes?" Ram said, her brain receiving distorted images of soldiers coming to raid her village, an old man trying to protect her, but a strong slash tears him from between and the blood sprays on her face.

"I think Subaru-Kun may have got it when he tried to protect you?" said Rem. Her mind as innocent as a lamb made her forget the psychology of people especially girls who are protected by someone in near-death situations. In her case Subaru had to take a long-cut, till her melted her cold heart but for Ram, it was as simple as this _He has blood because he tried to save me. I don't know why, but I feel like he has done something great for me, something that I should never forget. Am I feeling this because my life was on line? However, it doesn't matter. What sort of life is this when you have to wake up as somebody reborn? Still, I must at least ask for his forgiveness as I somehow feel, he was in that situation because of me._

"Nee-Sama…Nee-Sama" Rem shook her a few more times.

"Huh!"

"Geez...In which world did your mind drifted to? Tell me if the works too hard for you. I will be more than happy to let you rest."

"No it's nothing like that" Ram said grabbing both of her hands together and putting them near her chest "I just feel like saying thank you to Subaru-Sama, for helping me from that dire situation"

"Nee-Sama" said Rem giving Ram a sisterly hug "Subaru-Kun isn't the kind to expect praise for helping others. But if you still want to thank him, I won't stop you"

"Thanks Rem" said Ram returning the hug "But I need to. Something in my mind wouldn't let me rest until I have a talk with him"

Ram parted ways with her sister trying to find Subaru. Rem was happy to see that Ram although didn't remember much about her, other than the fact that they were twins, that too only because they looked similar, she found Ram becoming more and more joyful. This side of her sister, she wants to cherish.

"But this isn't you, Nee-Sama" Rem muttered slowly pondering over the circumstances of her sister's amnesia.

"Subaru – Kun" Rosawall continued still sipping the coffee "I think that those two may know how to bring Ram's memories back."

"Seriously"

"I don't know for sure"

Subaru's face saddened a bit.

"But they know something. I saw it in their eyes. But they won't tell meeee. I think it would be better for you to talk with them."

"Huh! Why me? If the greatest magician of this time can't coerce them to say something, why would they listen to me?"

"Subaru-Kuun, force isn't always the mightiest advantage we have over our enemy. Wars have been won on the power of love. You have a way with the children; use it to your advantage."

Subaru said **Hmm** as he mentally begin to prepare for the encounter "Ok. I will have a talk with them. But I can't promise anything." He rose from the chair to exit the room.

"Wait a minute, Subaruu-Kuun" said Rosawall, now had placed his hands near his chin and had a serious smile on his face "Do you think, that Ram as she now is OK?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know. The way you look at her, the way your personality changes around her, its gives an indication of Love"

"L-O-V-E" Subaru's face was enveloped with red hue all over.

"And I don't want to sound rude but I think if you do try to get her affection, it would be a problem. In this state, you may win her heart but once she turns back, and she will turn back" _I will make sure of it_ thought Rosawall in his mind and continued "She will be perplexed about the situation beyond control and I hope you wouldn't like that"

"Of course, What do you think of my character. My heart is only for cute and innocent diva like Emilia-Tan, I didn't ever plan on having a thing with that tsundere" and he stormed off towards the exit trying to hide his embarrassed face. Little did he knew, that a certain red – haired former maid had listened to every bit of their conversation and ran into the opposite direction as soon as he had come for the door.

" _What was all that about?"_ But the reply to her question was never came out through her mind which was already fixated at filling the jigsaw puzzles of her prior life.


	9. Update message and forgive me

Sorry guys. But this is just a short update. Please don't be angry, pretty please. I started this fanfiction on just my whim to have a Ram X Subaru fanfiction. Because I wasn't, I literally wasn't able to find that sort of shipping anywhere. And I truly didn't care if somebody read it or not. And I stopped all of a sudden because of my studies, and my Visual Novel projects. And I would have stopped until I open FF just out of curiosity and behold! So much fucking reception. I don't think I am a great author but the love you all gave to the story made me feel terrible for betraying your expectations. There are very few things you could do in life as a non-philanthrophist that matters. And what matters is seeing your smile reading my fanfic. So I am sorry and I promise I will start this fanfiction again and keep giving updates in consistency. Just give me a week or two to plan out for ahead and free myself from some of the schedules. I promise this will start again and I promise on my life I'll not disappear again. Thank you guys for your love. And if anybody wants to give me some ideas on how should the story progress, please please tell me in comments. Thank you guys. You are awesome.


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry guys for the late update. But I am really burdened with many difficult chores lined up one after another. But I did that I will bring the next chapter and I didn't wanted to go back on my word especially after reading all those reviews. The chapter is short, sorry for that. It may be boring, sorry again. And many sorrys for the weird manner in which the chapter may have been written 'cause I didn't take help of any editor. That process takes time and I wanted to deliver it as soon as possible. I will try to update the chapter in future but more than that I want to give the new chapter asap I write them. I am really really sorry if you don't find this interesting anymore. But do write the negative aspects in the reviews, because that surely helps. And if you want the story to go in some particular direction do tell me those in the reviews too.**

Destruction. Damage. Carnage. Ferocity.

Nightmare. Chaos. Grotesque

Such words formed the symphony to fine tune the hellish flashes of images going through Subaru's mind. He could see a man…No that's not right. Not a man but a being with a burly body, and monstrous face in the disguise of a human with long shaggy beard. His stance, the way in he held his long heavy axe with golden handle and intricate designs denoting an ambiguous creature that you wouldn't ever want to face, these all portrayed the ruthlessness and monstrosity of his personality. Subaru tossed and turned in his sleep, with every second forming more sweat on his forehead and his body heat increasing at the same rate. The burly being stopped near him and said something "…kill…deserve" and he couldn't make a head or tail of the incoherency of his dialogue. And before he could try to decipher any of it, the axe was flung at something. It was a dream, he shouldn't be feeling anything. The worst thing that could have happened to him was sleep paralysis. But misfortune stalked Subaru like a yandere girl who's stalking her crush. The pain that he felt near his throat, the large amount of blood that he saw gushing out through it, and the pool of crimson color that formed beside him all ravaged his body in an unseeingly painful manner. Blood, so much blood. It felt like he was drowning in a pool of his own blood with no chance to escape. Blood, so much blood. He didn't knew that his body was inhabited by such a massive amount of that red liquid. And while he flinched with horror in his eyes and agony in his heart, the burly being stood near him with a disgusting smirk on his face. The axe rose high up in the air and was flung at him…

Subaru woke up and the sudden jolt pushed him out of his bed. Soon the comfit surface of the mattress was replaced by a hard and rough facet of the floor. And the first thing that he did out of reflex was touching his throat several times. Because death was strikingly devoid of loyalty in its devotion to him. No matter how many times had he fallen prey to death, the feeling of pure agony never left him. After feeling that his body was fine and assessing that he indeed hasn't died, he sat on his bed brooding over the dream. Exasperated by his assessment of those dreams, he opened his door to make his way outside. Walking in the lawn with the comfortable cool air was what he needed to keep his sanity intact. The air indeed soothed him a little bit as the little lingering pain went away with every sway of the breeze and the beauty of luscious blades of grass and tall trees swaying back and forth. But he couldn't get his mind out of the images that he remembered. What was happening to him? Somewhere inside his body something was being unlocked slowly, stealthily without his knowledge. He felt the vibrations of a force poking out of the seal in his heart, that musn't be unlocked. But it was happening. He knew it subconsciously. As he was strolling through the garden, with his left hand on supporting his chin, a sudden humming made him stop. "Hm.. ..Hmmm" the voice was sweet, and alluring as those pretty flowers that lure the bees. Subaru indeed was dense to other feelings except paronia, fear and his crush on Emila but listening to that humming sound, he felt that he could taste the sweetness of the voice. "No. Fucking. Way" his mouth was open in shock seeing no other than a particular pink haired beauty near the fountain. "Damn...I am already awestruck by Rem's crush for me, and my unrequited Love for Emilia and now this…" he thought "I feel like a protagonist of some cheap harem anime where the guy falls in love with the first girl he sees and couldn't keep his eyes of the other beauties and becomes a person that fans of the series hate because he cant choose a single girl". Now was not the right time, he was too flustered seeing Ram like this that he couldn't speak to her with his coherent joke-talking skills. He decided to pull back for now but couldn't see the single twig that lay behind his feet and it broke under the pressure of his legs. The breaking of it made a nimble sound but it was enough to disturb the melancholic peaceful aura of the atmosphere. Ram was startled and looked back with fear. And heaved a sigh of relief when she found Subaru standing there with a weird grin on his face not knowing, that he was embarrassed because of the situation.

"Subaru-Kun" she said "Come here" patting on the empty area near the edge of the fountain. Subaru walked towards her with slow steps thinking " _Kun_ ". He sat near her.

"I wish that Subaru-Kun forgives me if he doesn't like me calling him Subaru-Kun"

The way she said that with a blush on her cheeks made Subaru aware of the weird rhythmic thumping of his heart. "N-No I don't. Why would I care B-Baka?" he said "Beside such a cute girl calling me with so familiarity only fills my heart with joy"

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the fuck did I say? Cute…Cute. No Ram can never be cute. I mean she is cute, beautiful even…What the fuc…_

Ram's cheeks did turn rosier due to Subaru calling her cute.

"No I am not cute. You embarrass me. I mean like…Rem's so cute and is talented at so many things. I feel so inferior to her. I feel like I am being a burden and couldn't sleep because of that thought, and hence came here to calm down."

Subaru swayed his hands back and forth "Rem is special in her own way and you are special in your own. There's a reason why we want you to stay. Because Ram can do things that others can't do and is special in more ways than one. Beside talking about doing household chores, you always sucked at them. There's no way that you could do them even if you got your memories back. HAHAHAHA". The face that was blushing changed with a sour expression nearing the end of Subaru's dialogue. "hmph" Ram said and without any warning whatsoever began to walk towards the mansion. Subaru slapped his forehead with his left hand sensing the way in which he had decided to mince words to save himself from the embarrassment of trying to comfort Ram, the girl who wouldn't rather die than go to Subaru for any trivial advice. He rushed towards her "Sorry. Sorry Ram. That was a joke"

"Subaru-Kun makes bad jokes" and she continued walking at much faster pace with a _Hmph!_

Subaru caught up to her and decided to stop her with his hand. He grabbed her by her wrists but the area where he did this was a little wet and the ground was slippery. Due to either good luck or bad misfortune, they both slipped and the end result was…

Ram on the ground with Subaru on top of her. His mouth an inch away from her. A flick to his head could make them kiss on the spot. And the most weird fact was that neither of them were trying to push each other away. If this would have been the old Ram, then this would've been Subaru's next death and a death so painstakingly painful that he'd shudder at the thought of her. But the situation was different now.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" Subaru asked, his face still close to those velvety rosy lips that was trying to draw him near and near.

"No I am not. But…" Ram couldn't finish her sentence. Somewhere in her mind, a thought struck that it would be bad to let Subaru go. She didn't knew why? She didn't knew why him being close to her was so important? She didn't understood the symphony of her heart nor the rising tempo of her heartbeat.

"I must get up" Subaru said but something inside him was resonating the same thoughts and feelings as her but with a more confused state of mind. She could only say "Hmm" nodding an OK. He tried to get up and slipped again…

This time the time itself seemed to have stopped. The winds seemed to calm down their intensity. The peaceful aura seemed to let go of the purity of peace . The slip mashed Subaru's and Ram's face with each other. It was only for a split second but their lips touched, the longing was felt, the slowly forming carnal desires were known, and at the very last moment the accident was realized by both of them. Ram stood up in a haze covering her mouth.

"I am so sorry Ram. I am seriously…"

"No, it was just an accident. Such things happen. Ehehehe…" and without any further ado Ram ran way with spirals in her eyes and blush on her cheeks. Meanwhile Subaru was too crucified to get up, _If this was really a harem anime this is the moment where weird things begins to fuck up the protagonist's life_

No wonder he wasn't incorrect. For some unknown reason, Roswall knew that Ram had stepped out. And was keeping an eye on her from the window of his study. And he was angry, at the situation he saw unfold before his eyes. He shut the window with a scowl and some nasty schemes forming in his head. 

dillonhq4 thank you very much for praising me *embarrassed blush* I do hope you enjoy the other chapters as well.

The toasty professor – I am sorry that this took so much time but honestly, I didn't knew by the time I will come back to write this, the fanfic would have got so many reviews and follows. Thank you for the praise. I do hope you keep enjoying the story. The updates will be more frequent now.

Gamma-X My bro, I am so pleased to meet another Ram X Subaru shipper. I am really glad. I thought there was a reason why this shipping wasn't there on ff. Not even one author decide to write it. And I did start the fanfic as a joke. Though now I am serious. And for your thoughts on Satella, I'd say maybe she'd do that, maybe she wouldn't but that did gave me something to think about in future chapters

Thanks to other guys who reviewed as well. Sorry I am a lazy person to mention everyone's names but thank you all a lot. And a huge thank you to all the followers. Keep following for the next chapter. See you next time.


	11. Chapter 10

**I am back. Holy shit, it's been a year, I think. Maybe this is the reason why fanfic writers don't get an iota of respect. But I swear, I just was out of ideas and beside, I didn't think this would recieve the attention it got. Out of so many fanfics out there, I wrote something with such a shitty style that I thought maybe one or two people will read it and write to me telling that if I hope to become a writer, I should give up. But as I came surfing here once again and saw the comments, I was literally moved to tears. Even after disappointing you guys so much, you had those sweet words for me. Really thank you. Again I won't explicitly state that I will continue to update this fanfic regularly but...let's see for now. And with this let's start...**

Ram stretched her hands and gave a cute yawn as she slightly became tired of peeling the potatoes slowly. She was too far away from the goal, with 9/10 potatoes still remaining to be peeled after half an hour of her hard work.

Rem interrupted.

"Nee-San, you don't have to force yourself to do this."

Ram wasn't convinced.

"I wonder why do I keep messing things up even if they are as simple as this. Was I that useless of a person? Haha"

"That's because your strength lies elsewhere."

Rem said with the sweetest smile she could gather on her face which was disguising the pain she was concealing. How could she possibly tell her sister, that her weakness had cost Ram the very thing on which her life stood on. Her horn.

"Still..."

Ram couldn't speak further, she stopped her statement midway as her feet stumbled a little and she lost her sense of balance. The potatoes lost their fresh pallor as they rolled down on the floor.

"Nee-San" Ram hurried towards her and caught her by her back, just when she was about to collapse.

"I wonder...why do I...feel this weak?" And Ram collapsed in Rem's arms.

After carefully laying her down on the bed, Rem ran towards Roswal's study. She didn't even knock on the door due to panicky state of her mind. She saw that two people she cared for most in the world after her sister were present in the chamber, her master Roswal and her love Subaru. Rem explained the situation to them.

Subaru stood up with a distressed expression of his own.

"Subaru before you go, let me tell you something..."

Rem was told to go to her room and take care of Ram.

"Ros-chi, why aren't you hurrying too. Ram can be in some sort of trouble!"

"She is a very fatal trouble"

Subaru was dumbstruck. Everyday the image of Roswal that he'd formed in his mind were slowly being shredded to pieces nowadays.

"If you know something and I know you do...why this calmness? What game are you trying to play?"

"This is no game"

"Then what is it!"

Subaru banged one of his hand on the table so hard that the saucepan kept on it flung down and broke to pieces. And also broken to pieces was Roswal's temperament.

"Calm down! Boy" Roswal said in an exasperated tone, that was far away from his normal clown-like cheerful voice.

"Ram is in trouble, and I can't do anything about it...but you can"

"What do you mean?"

"Ram told you her and Rem's history I guess. So you must know that Ram can't absorb mana from the environment and in this world, any creature who is unable to do that has only fate waiting for him...DEATH"

"No...that...can't be"

Subaru slumped on the chair. His face was a mixture of anger, bewilderment, and self despair.

"Please...please tell me there's a way to save her"

"There is..."

Subaru's eyes sparked with the same intensity as that of a person who's lost in the desert and suddenly found himself facing an oasis.

"But let me ask you this first. What do you think of her?"

"What sort of question is that?"

"A question of utmost importance"

Subaru knew this time the clown wasn't joking. The seriousness on his face was sincere.

"She's like a family as are others, even you... though nowadays I am loosing faith in you."

"That's a pity. But to achieve what you desire, you need to see her as something more...a lover"

"L-Lo-Lover!"

Subaru was stupefied but more so, because somehow that word was echoing in some corner of his heart that he wasn't able to see. That word was scary when he imagined Ram but he vaguely sensed that, that word made him face a desire that he has been harbouring ever since he saw Ram in the new light. But he couldn't fathom his feelings.

"Don't you find her cute?"

"Yes she is very cute. Too cute even, but..."

"I know you and her had a terrible footing since the beginning but she has no ill-will towards you"

This was true. Even though Ram was the one who was always sharp tongued towards him, it was Rem who'd tried to kill him and not her. And in her own way, she had tried to help him anyhow she could.

"I can't make a head or tail of anything now. Please just tell me what should I do."

Roswal closed his lips and stood silently for an minute. Subaru was panicking.

Did he have to cut his hands and provide an offering to some god?

Does he have to give up his life to save her?

No, the clown referred to something like love...so does he has to cut his heart open?

"Copulate with her"

"The fuck"

Subaru fell from his chair. Being a Ex-NEET, he often stumbled upon those words when playing periodic videogames and he new to copulate means to have SEX!

"You can't spout anything from your mouth Ros-Chi"

"But that's the only way. I wouldn't want to let you even touch her if I could but there's no other option"

"..."

"Although I can't force you either. Because if you don't have any feelings for her, she wouldn't receive an iota of manna. So I have a plan."

"And that is..."

"Kiss her. If you do feel something for her, she should attain enough mana to see the dusk of tomorrow."

"But that would mean that I don't...love Emilia-tan"

"Yes. And I can't do anything about it. But do consider, that when she didn't reciprocate your proposal you didn't try to coerce her into thinking otherwise. She was someone you liked...not loved Subaru"

"..."

"Being speechless would amount to nothing. If you don't provide Ram with mana she would die when the clock strikes 12 in midnight. And if she dies...you can pack your things and leave this place"

Saying thus Roswal leaves the study.

Subaru is left all alone in the room with conflicting emotions in his heart. What can he do? What should he do?


	12. Chapter 11

_**Oof writing is a terrible way to pass time guys. I don't want you to give up but if you are not earnest in your desires and passionate enough, all you would do is burn yourself in the process. I had to write and rewrite this chapter more than 15 times and yet I am unsatisfied with it. Seriously, I wanted to just press shift + delete but I thought maybe the readers would forgive me as they have forgiven me multiple times already. Sorry for being so lazy. And other thing, I went through the earlier chapters today and I was astonished, Chapter 1 till Chapter 10 really is a chart that shows how far have I come. Straight from writing like a shit to writing like a shit that people can still read just for the sake of reading. I can't thank you guys enough for your support. Next chapter may take some considerable amount of time but I love you all and will surely bring something. So wait for me please.**_

 _ **One other thing - I have begun to write a series on the app "Webnovel" so if you use that app please read my book "The city where Silence Screams". I have used "SpookySaint" as my pseudonym. I would be glad if you could show me support on that platform too. Now over and out.**_

 _ **And the chapter begins...**_

Subaru entered the room on tiptoes. His every step is full of caution lest he wake up the sleeping beauty. He was nervous beyond words to be alone in a room with a cute pink haired girl who, a few weeks back had suddenly turned into a dere from tsundere. Subaru had to clasp his fingers together, forming and breaking his fists frequently which were full of sweat.

He had been given such a task that he preferred battling Betelgeuse once more rather than fulfil the mission he has been told to do.

He looked at the cuckoo clock in the room. 11'33 was the time according to the pins on display.

The moonlight was dense and so, the clouds that were obstructing the shower of brightness provided by it, began to move.

As Subaru's face got drowned in the intense white pallor, he decided that he needed to act. He went to the bed and sat on the chair beside it. He could hear Ram breathing heavily and the frequency of ups and downs of her breasts became slow. He held her creamy white hands that were so thin and fragile, he felt that he would break them if he put strength in his grasp. That's why he was gentle.

" _They are so soft, as if they would melt into me"_ thought Subaru.

He could not understand why he could not contradict his thoughts like, he did every time when Ram did a moe attack without her knowing about it.

He was scared of carrying out his mission for if he accomplished it, it would mean that he truly never loved Emilia in the first place. All his feelings for her were a hoax, an illusion that he'd summoned upon himself because of her beauty and the circumstances in which they have met.

Even thinking all of it didn't deterred him. Emilia was still precious to him even if he questioned his feelings for her. But she wasn't so precious that he can lose Ram. Ram was never his in the first place but this mattered little to him now.

He closed his eyes, brought his lips near her's and time conveyed the impression of not as a flowing entity but something that can be paralyzed for in that moment it seemed to have stopped, for it couldn't care less for its protocol and neither the fear of god. Even time wanted Subaru to enjoy this moment to his fullest. Time wanted to provide him a reason and it wanted to be a cause to make Subaru understand what his heart has wanted all along.

 _Sweet_. The word resonated in Subaru's head. A delicacy unlike any other was felt by him. He was enraptured and enthralled by the exotic and exquisite savouriness of her lips.

The whole moment to him seemed like, he was sleeping on a dark lonely cloud in purgatory, when suddenly flowers begin to sprout abloom from the watery soil. Their fragrance filled the air which brought the most meticulous birds to the scene, their chirping paving a way for melody that would even sway the lost cause in hearing-aid users. This was in fact for him a moment of perfect paradise.

He initially wanted to go for just a peck. But the strange flavour of sweetness as rich as mangoes and dreamy-like nectar of holy flowers, while having an aroma of passion fruits stacked together, was making his senses numb.

He remembered the days before she became amnesiac. The cold hearted Ram, who spit poison from her mouth every time she saw Subaru.

The Ram, who revealed that she and Ram were Oni i.e half demons, a secret known to few. A secret known to the people they can trust. A secret then known to Subaru.

The Ram, who although didn't have strength to face an enemy of that calibre went along with Subaru to save Rem, her sister who she loves them most in this world.

The Ram who became amnesiac because of him.

The Ram who is like a fallen angel now.

The Ram who is shy.

The Ram who is sweet.

The Ram who makes his breath stop, using her moe attacks.

The Ram he _likes_ …

 _Cough, Cough_ Ram sat upright on the bed, crucified and astonished.

She remembered that she fell unconscious in the kitchen. And when she succumbed to darkness, she found herself in a dream. She saw herself trapped in some sort of prison. She was all alone in that pitch black darkness, so dark that it can gave the word emptiness its meaning. She was hurting. She was in pain. She cried and instead of tears, red pool of blood flowed from her eyes and ended up on her cheeks. It dripped and formed a patch of crimson colour near her feet. She could understand nothing but she wanted to flee. She can't do that on her own, so she was waiting painstakingly for someone to save her. Someone who cared enough for her to risk his life for her. Someone who had her face embedded in his heart. And as she was close to have a break down, she felt two strong manly hands embrace her. And then, she found herself in the air. So someone did came to abduct her from this vile and malicious place, to carry her towards the bright centre of light. Before she can turn around to look at her saviour's face, the dream was over.

All she could see was, Subaru breathing heavily in front of her. The problem actually can be blamed on him because he got so carried away that he did not notice, that more than a minute has passed. He was that lost in his throes of passion. And passionate kissing.

Ram sat in silence because in the intense moonlight, she could notice the wetness on her lips and Subaru's too. So they K-Ki-Ki…

Her brain went haywire.

Meanwhile, Subaru was silent because Ram was awake. The duty has been fulfilled. The deed was done and he came to terms with the answer of his heart. He came to know…

What his heart wanted?

Whom his heart has chosen to live and die for?

Whom it has accepted as piece of puzzle that can complete the jigsaw of his life?

The answer was right in front of his eyes.

"Subaru-Sama..." Ram said in a solemn voice "Did you…Did you k-ki-ki-kissed me?"

"Uhm…I think so"

"Why?"

"Why? Ahahaha…Why?...You see there was a mosquito on your face and I had to get rid of it"

"With your mouth?"

"I cleaned the garden just now and had not washed my hands"

"Subaru-kun…I don't think that would put so much of your saliva on my mouth that I can literally feel your aftertaste…"

It took quite a moment for Ram to register what she had said and her eyes began to move in circles, as her mind was breaking due to embarrassment.

Subaru's nervousness left him after he chuckled at Ram's reactions which were so cute and innocent that he was actually doing something sinful by his actions.

He jumped on the bed, and with a smile grabbed Ram's hands.

"Subaru-kun?"

"Let's kiss"

"What are you suddenly saying B-Baka?"

"I am saying to put your lips on mine"

"Even if you say that with such a smile, I…I can't…"

"Do you hate me?"

"No. I don't hate you. But I don't know if I can do this."

"If you don't hate me, then why not?"

"Because I can't. This feels wrong"

"It isn't wrong. Let's kiss and let me prove you that."

"Why are you stubborn about kissing anyway?"

"Because…I love you"

 _Eh…Eh…Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh_

Except that repetitive monologue in Ram's mind, the room had gone silent. The winds that were trying to make the atmosphere comfortable had suddenly vanished into the thin air. It was as if nature itself had become shy due to the sudden change in performance before them.

Ram fidgeted nervously, keeping her hands on top of each other.

"I don't know how to answer that Subaru-sama. There's too many things on my mind right now. I don't know who I was before"

"Why does it matter?"

"It matters. I haven't been able to figure out who am I. How do you think I will be able to figure out what I feel?"

"Because feelings are formed on the spot. If you were angry at someone before you lost your memories, would you be still angry at them after you recovered it, you won't would you. At least the Ram I know won't do that"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because all the time that I was in pain, all the time I was trying to survive the days here. It was only you and Rem who were close to me. I do love Rem but I don't think I love her that way. Meanwhile you and I were kind of incompatible but…I still ended up liking you. And now this feelings won't go. So stop thinking about your circumstances for a moment. I love Ram for who she is. Maybe I like you now because I find this version of Ram cute but I was never averse of you and certainly made a place for you in my heart long ago"

"…"

"Don't be sad and spoil that cute face"

"Cute?"

"Super cute. Cuter than fairy. You, Ram are the definition of cuteness. You give the word cuteness its meaning"

"Awwwwwwwwwww"

Ram can hear no more. Steam was pouring out from her brains.

"So Ram, let's do this. Let's go on a date."

"Date?"

And then Subaru explained to Ram what a date is.

"So you will take me to places to K-Ki-Kiss"

"No. Just not that. I would like to do more in fact. Because already dressed in pyjamas, you are making it hard for me to control myself."

Ram, out of shyness covered her breasts with her hands.

 _Moeeeeeeeeeeee_

"Let's go to the village together for our date. It would be a challenge for me to make a place in your heart by the end of it. By the time the sun goes down"

"But…what if I can't find an answer even then?"

"Then I would be sad and probably give up on you. Not coming up with an answer is as good as a no"

Subaru remembered the day when he proposed Emilia and she did not give him an answer but kept him hanging forever. Ram too felt a little sad, when he Subaru told he would give up.

"Okay. Subaru-sama, I would go on the date with you"

"Yesss. Now let's kiss"

Subaru said this and dived for her lips. Ram struck him in the head.

"You said you would wait for my answer"

"No, this is…"

The way in which Subaru suddenly went silent worried Ram. He explained the situation to her with all the explanation provided by Roswall. The way to provide her enough mana that can last for days. SEX.

"Se-Se-Sex"

"That's why I want you to confirm your feelings. I do have some mindbreak and ugly bastard doujins in my world but I don't take delight in forcing cute girls. I want you to accept me yourself because I want to do that with you but more than that I want to make you happy. I want to help you in having a enriching life forever, a life you can enjoy. So a few kisses would be a good backup so that you don't fall unconscious tomorrow."

"I think you increased the amount. But if its for that, then I think…I can do it. I am also, a little excited for the date."

 _Moeeeeeeeeee_

Subaru couldn't control himself anymore.

And as the winds changed direction and their pace, the shrubberies scattered around the lawn surrounding the mansion, lifted an essence of pure waft of serenity in the air. The moon intensified its rays and the moonlight now acting as limelight shone upon two figures in the room. Ram and Subaru could be seen embracing, with their lips mounted on each other and the flow of time went limp again in the night.

 **Bobberhd what do you think my friend, was the chapter much longer this time xd. I'll try to make chapters long but sometimes I have to cut unnecessary things from first draft and they become short. Still I'll try to do something about that flaw. Thanks for reading...**


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